Updated ,first published
Washington: A Florida judge has dismissed Donald Trump’s defamation suit against Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal over an article that revealed a young Trump had donated a “birthday book” to his then-friend Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
The US president filed a $10 billion ($14.1 billion) civil lawsuit against the newspaper, its publisher and two journalists over a story published in July that said Trump’s signature appeared at the bottom of a secret letter, written as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, framed by an outline of a woman’s body.
“Happy Birthday – may every day be another beautiful mystery,” the letter concluded. Epstein’s friend and companion Ghislaine Maxwell put the book together, which was a tribute to Epstein for his 50th birthday.
Trump denied writing the letter or signing it, telling them Journal: “This is not me. This is a lie … I have never painted a picture in my life. I don’t paint pictures of women.” His denial was included in the story.
He later sued in the Southern District of Florida, claiming the paper fabricated the story to defame him. At one point, Trump’s lawyers sought urgent testimony from Murdoch due to the 95-year-old journalist’s age and health.
However, on Monday (Florida time), judge Darrin Gayles threw out the case, finding that Trump had not shown the newspaper that published the article with “actual malice”.
The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning Trump could choose to reopen it if he wanted to. Posting on Social Reality, the president indicated that he plans to do just that.
“Our strong case against The Wall Street Journaland the other defendants, were required to be resubmitted by the Judge,” Trump said. “It’s not a stay, it’s a recommendation to resubmit, and in accordance with the Order, we will reopen the renewed case on or before April 27th.”
Trump and Murdoch have continued to enjoy friendly relations despite the lawsuit being filed in July. Murdoch has dined at the White House several times, including a dinner in February with other News Corp figures.
And Trump appeared in a video message at Murdoch’s 95th birthday party in New York last month, hailing the Australian-born tycoon as “one of a kind” who has changed the world. The elder Murdoch is now the retired chairman of News Corp and Fox Corporation, but his son Lachlan runs the business.
The bar for bringing defamation claims is generally higher in the US than under Australian law. In his order, Gayles wrote that to demonstrate actual malice, Trump would have to show that the newspaper deliberately avoided investigating the truth of the allegations it was making, to avoid learning the truth.
“The complaints don’t come anywhere near this level. It’s quite the opposite,” Gayles said, noting that the newspaper sought comments from the White House, the Justice Department and the FBI before publication.
“In short, the complaint and the article prove that the defendants tried to investigate.”
Michael Koziol is the North American correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, deputy editor of the Sun-Herald and federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect through X or email address.
